Miraculous Ladybug Balcony Scene
by Nayinator
Summary: Adrien has troubles with his father and runs off as Chat Noir, only to find himself on a distraught Marinette's balcony. Can Chat help Marinette overcome her fears? Or will his own anger get in the way of his being a superhero?


**Hey fellow Miraculousers! I'm sort of new on this site and have been nervous to post my first story and figured I'd get it out of the way with this one. I'm open to constructive criticism :) Thanks guys!**

I looked through my father's glasses into his deep blue eyes, refusing to let down. In return, my father crossed his arms and shook his head.

"No, Adrien. My word is final."

"You never listen to me!" I shouted, turning my hands to fists at my side. I couldn't help but think that if I could turn to Chat Noir right now, I would be able to take him down no questions asked. However, sometimes Adrien needed to make an appearance more than Chat Noir did, and this was one of those moments.

My father spun around and placed one of his large hands onto the silver railing of the staircase in a single motion, then climbed up the stairs without another word. Once he was gone, my bodyguard stepped forward and started to speak, but I gestured for him to leave me alone and ran up the stairs to my room, slamming the door shut behind me.

Plagg flew out from behind my white button-down shirt and blinked up at me with his large green eyes full of concern. Even he didn't like it when my dad and I got into an argument.

"Sorry Plagg," I said, trying to hide the hurt in my voice, "but I need to get out of here. Claws out!" I commanded. Plagg swirled into the air and got sucked into the ring on my finger, re-decorating the ring from silver to black. The air around me seemed to change and conform as my costume appeared on my skin, melting away my current identity and forming a new one. I opened my eyes, loving the way they morphed from their normal dreamy-boy green to their new cat-like appearance. My mask fitted easily around my eyes, and my costume slid over my body without me having to touch a single thread. I reached up and tapped the tips of my black cat ears, making them flick with their animal-like instinct. Once the transformation was finished, I grabbed my nightstick, and jumped out my window into the setting sun.

After hours of travelling, leaping from building to building and climbing roof-tops, I swung myself onto the balcony of a small cottage-like home above a bakery. The home sat right in the middle of the street, charming the people around it with its family appeal. Night had fallen over the city and the moon hung just above the top of the Eiffel Tower, bearing its light down onto the welcoming home. The couple that lived here made the best croissants in the country, I could never get enough of them.

I was pacing back and forth across the balcony, angrily thinking over the conversation I had had with my father, when I heard a door behind me creak open on its hinges.

"Chat Noir?" A soft voice whispered from behind me. I turned around stiffly with a strangled Chat Noir smile while nervously touching the back of my neck. My eyes travelled forward, focusing on the person in front of me, Marinette. She was staring at me with her large bluebell eyes, playing with the black strap of her small pink purse that ran down her front. All the anger pent up inside me immediately rushed out upon seeing her, and a warm feeling filled its place.

Relaxing back into my normal Chat Noir persona, I said, "Sorry Princess, didn't mean to wake you." Marinette shut the wooden trap door she had crawled out of and walked towards me hesitantly. Her short black hair was tied back into two small pigtails that sat at the crook of her neck, and her normal black jacket wiggled in the slight breeze. Beneath her jacket, the white floral t-shirt she wore was untucked over her denim pink capris pants. As she walked towards me, her right hand floated at the spot just above the cursive letter "M" embroidered on the front of her purse. Marinette looked at me with concern, the pink of her cheeks illuminated by the soft glow of the balcony lights.

"Oh, you didn't wake me," Marinette sighed into the chilled fall air, "you can't exactly wake someone who can't sleep."

I dropped my hand back down to my side, turning around to face the city just as Marinette reached my side. She wrapped one of her petite hands around the balcony's white banister, looking out at the moon in front of us. The moon lit up her blue eyes, making them brighter than I had ever seen them before, but something was hidden deep inside, some sort of fear that gripped at her from within.

Cocking my head to the side, I gave Marinette a sideways smile. "Princess can't get her beauty sleep?" I teased, "Maybe she should try snuggling up with her kitty." I pointed at myself with both my thumbs, but Marinette simply rolled her eyes and tapped the banister with her fingertips.

I hoisted myself up over the railing and sat down on the beam, facing the moon. If joking around and flirting Chat-Noir-style wasn't going to help her, then I needed to switch gears and turn to the Adrien side of myself.

"I couldn't sleep either," I admitted.

Marinette thought for a moment before replying, "Do you ever get nightmares, Chat Noir? Like, about the villains you fight?"

It was nice having the light behind us because it was easier to appreciate Marinette's natural look without night vision. It reminded me that Adrien had friends too, real friends that I could turn to for help. Not friends like Chloe, but friends like Nino, and Alya. Friends like Marinette.

"That's kind of a dark subject, don't you think, Princess?" I asked curiously.

Marinette's cheeks suddenly lit up and her voice became slightly higher pitched, "Uh, Y-yeah," She stuttered nervously. "I m-mean, you don't have to tell me. I can just go, you were busy anyway so…" She turned to leave but I quickly leapt to my feet and grabbed her arm lightly.

"Wait, please stay, Marinette." I insisted, "They say the best conversations happen between midnight and three A.M., you know." I gestured back over to our spot by the railing. Marinette looked away, seemingly debating the situation in her mind for a moment, then slid her arm out from my hand and returned to her place at the railing. I kept pace beside her and swung myself over the banister once more, sitting on the cold bar and smiling into the night sky. It was invigorating to have her company. Marinette was such a sweet girl that even Hawk Moth couldn't refuse a conversation with her. She made me feel the way Ladybug made me feel: complete.

She stole a glance at me from the corner of her eyes and quickly darted them back over the city.

Finally, I spoke up, "To answer your question, yes, I do get nightmares. They're just not always about the villains I fight." My chest tightened with the thought of my mother, and the coldness of my father. I swallowed tightly.

"We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to Chat, I was just…"

"Don't worry about me Princess, I'm here to help you." I interjected. Marinette pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear and closed her eyes for a moment, relaxing herself.

"I get nightmares too," she began. "I'm a pretty clumsy person, Chat Noir. I destroy almost everything I touch." Suddenly, she straightened and looked at me embarrassedly.

I chuckled and shook my head, "No worries, Princess. Destroying everything you touch isn't something you should be ashamed of. You could even think of it as a superpower." I gave Marinette a wink and her shoulders shook with laughter.

"That's easy for you to say, kitty. You know, I fight things every day, it should be easy for me to chase the nightmares away too, right?"

"What do you mean, 'you fight things every day?'"

Marinette tensed up again and ran her hand through her bangs with a faux smile. "Oh y-you know. Just, people at school a-and homework and stuff. Nothing major of course, not like you."

"Well, I would hope not."

"Well, I don't."

"Good,"

"Good."

Kicking my legs over the banister to sit facing her, I offered Marinette a hand, which she took gratefully. Then, I said, "It's just a matter of figuring out how to chase the nightmares away."

"But, how?" Marinette asked hopelessly. She let go of my hand and turned around, pressing her back against the banister. She crossed her arms in front of her and sort of pouted into the dim light, making me disappointed that she had let go of my hand.

"How do you fight off those other things?" I inquired delicately.

"Normally I have a bit of motivation," Marinette spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. "I like to help other people, and when I help them, I beat whatever I'm trying to beat."

I leaned forward a little, smiling at her even though she was looking away. "It sounds like that's what you need to do with your nightmares. Think of them as the villain, and think of yourself as the victim. You need to save yourself, right? What better way of doing that than to fight the villain?" We both jumped at the sudden sound of my ring, which had just started to beep. Even without using my cataclysm power, I still had limits to how long I could wear my Alter-ego. I could wear it for hours before it wore off, but Plagg still got tired and Adrien did have to return to the real-world eventually. Four pads left.

Marinette looked at the ring too, and a slightly panicked looked crossed her face. "That's actually really helpful Chat. Thank you. You don't have much time left before you change back."

"I've got four minutes," I replied casually. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to stay here for as long as I can." Marinette seemed to struggle with her inner self again, debating on whether she should let me stay and risk my identity being revealed, or if she should make me go to stay safe. She tucked her hair behind her ear again, and that was when I noticed her earrings. They were solid black, seemingly normal, but their shape and size reminded me of somebody else's. Also, it could've just been my eyes playing tricks on me, but if I looked closely enough, I could almost see five little black dots of a different shade than the rest. Before I could investigate any further, my ring beeped to remind me that time was running out. Marinette stood upright and planted her feet in front of me carefully keeping a couple inches of space between us.

"Why are you up here tonight, Chat Noir?" Marinette asked.

I smiled another Chat Noir-type smile and shrugged my shoulders innocently. I could feel the tips of my ears swaying downward shyly. "I was running from my nightmares, and it looks like I fell right into the arms of the Princess who would save me."

Marinette blinked in confusion. "But, _you're_ the one that gave _me_ advice." She pointed out.

"Let me let you in on a secret, Marinette. Saving Paris doesn't make me a superhero, what makes me a superhero is people like you, who give me a reason to fight." I explained, hoisting myself on top of the railing. I stood balanced on my toes, crouched down like a cat ready to pounce and gave Marinette a playful look, the familiarity of her bluebell eyes sent a warm tingle through me, all the way down to my toes. Another pad went out on my ring and I smiled, "Saving Paris is just a bonus. Its people like you, that I care deeply enough about that I wouldn't let a villain lay a hand on you, that make me a better hero. Saving people, saves me. Even if the fight is in their head, and the villain is their own self-conscious." I touched the bottom of her chin with the tips of my leather-clad fingers. I could feel Marinette shiver beneath my touch, making me blush in the dim light that surrounded us.

I leaned forward slightly, inching closer to her pale, pink lips. Our noses touched, and I could feel her warm uneven breath caress my cheeks in contrast to the cool air surrounding us. I tilted my head slightly with cat-ears flicking in anticipation as Marinette's eyes fluttered shut and her breath hitched in her throat. The light touch of her fingertips appearing on my forearms made my heart greedily leap out from my chest, yearning to close the gap between us. The smile melted off my face as the energy between us grew more serious, our emotions entangling each other in the space that was left between our lips. Just as we were about to kiss, we were interrupted by the beeping of my ring, telling me it had reached its final pad.

I sighed unhappily and moved away from Marinette. I took out my nightstick and elongated it, swinging it in circles throughout the air as I stood up on the banister, using my cat-senses to keep balance. Marinette looked about as disappointed as I felt.

Before I left, I whispered, "Until we meet again, Princess."

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


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